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I shoot people and then I ask questions

The Irish Times Photobooks of 2016 – Humans of Dublin

Peter Varga’s ongoing project is now published in book form – The result is a remarkable collection of character studies, drawn from the blog, which captures the vibrancy and diversity of Dublin life.PAll photographs by Peter Varga, quotes have been edited to fit gallery

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Inexperienced umbrella users from Brazil, seen on O’Connell Street, Dublin.PInspired by the success of similar projects internationally, Varga began to walk the streets of Dublin, interviewing and photographing those he met along the way, and worked to uncover the powerful stories hiding in plain sight and post his work online.

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“…. But he was determined. It wasn’t easy I can tell you, but we made it through our families with a deal that we’d get married in both countries to respect the traditions. We’re married four years now, and I still feel the same love for him, or even more!”

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“Today is the princess and grandad day”

P“I met him in a sex shop. We were both just doing our shopping and we started to chat. He said he plays music and I said I play music and now we have a band called Mutefish. We play progressive techno folk.”

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“At a beer festival I got too drunk, and I got in a fight with someone. While we were fighting I lost my shoe, and she was the one who gave it back to me. This is how we met four years ago.”

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“I have a child with her, and she’s still saying I could go home any time… I just have to be clean. I’m in the process of trying to stop. At that time I argued a lot with her, and anyway we weren’t prepared for her getting pregnant… And at the same time I lost my job, and my mother got breast cancer. I had all these things in my head that day”P

P“I thought she was very rude cos she came to my party and she just sat down on my couch, without even introducing herself. So we initially hated each other from the very start, but every time I went to someone’s party, she was there too. A few times we got drunk enough to start talking and found out we worked close to each other. One day we met on our lunch breaks, and since then we’re together 10 years. We just got married a few months ago. Love is a weird thing”

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“I was walking on the beach in county Sligo, when I reached out to hold the hand of a beautiful girl. I knew in that moment, if she took my hand, we would be together forever. This was in 1959, and we had a beautiful life together.”P

P“I was sent out to Aden, which is now Yemen, with the British Army in 1967. They were getting independence, but the terrorists were still very active so we were there to fight them and help protect the city. There were 10,000 British troops there, in this small city, including the Royal Navy and everything. “

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“I was in Ethiopia, with these nuns who owned the orphanage, and they said “we’re going to take you to a place in this jeep, but there’s only enough room for six people, and if we take you, we have to leave a doctor behind. Do you think if you go, you will be able to make some money back in Ireland to pay for medicine for these people?”

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P“…Last time a guy told me how he discovered his wife is cheating on him with his best friend. It was so sad, not only because of the story, but he was crying, so what do you do? I started to cry too… And it doesn’t look very professional when all the other passengers are watching you crying with a stranger… I often feel more like a therapist than a flight attendant after these long flights.”P

P“I was just on my way to the American sweet shop to buy some Gatorade, when I saw this guy in his 30s sitting on the ledge of the bridge. I just thought, “wow…” I stopped and asked him if he was okay, but I knew from the look in his eyes he wasn’t, and he didn’t say anything either, but I saw tears coming from his eyes. I pleaded with him for a while to come down and sit on the steps, and eventually he did. “

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p“The turning point of my life was a young girl in 1999 walking by with her boyfriend at Christchurch on New Year’s Eve. It was lashing rain and I was sitting on some concrete steps with my long hair and beard, listening to the bells, wondering where my family were and how they were. Out of nowhere the young girl kneeld down in front of me, and like an angel with her blue eyes, said ‘Hi! What’s your name? I had to think. Nobody calls you by your name on the streets.”

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P“‘Oh Nina (she said) we’re having so much fun and I’m so drunk. I love you loads and please remember that you are never alone. You are never alone.’ I answered that I love her too, but to be honest I was a bit surprised with her message because we were in touch regularly but we didn’t really tell each other very often that we love each other. Within a few hours the driver in her car fell asleep and they crashed into a tree. She died immediately.”

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“Depression is like a bottomless black hole in my chest, where my heart used to be. It leeches all of the colours from the world, turning everything to the same dull shade of grey. That pit of despair keeps growing; swallowing all of the light and happiness inside me until one day, there is nothing left but the pain. Depression makes me feel ashamed. “pAll photographs by Peter Varga from Humans of Dublin published by Gill Books